Supporters of the Houthi movement had been protesting in the capital for months, and over the past week Houthi rebel fighters have taken over the capital city, consolidating their power and pushing for a new, inclusive government.

Hadi, who was installed at the end of the last revolution as the pro-US “candidate” in a one-man vote, is outraged by the push for a new government, claiming the group is aiming to “overthrow the Yemeni model.”

Hadi supporters are claiming that the previous dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is behind the sudden takeover on the grounds that Saleh, like the Houthis, is a Shi’ite. Yet this claim doesn’t hold water since Saleh spent years fighting extremely bloody wars against the Houthis, and bankrolling Sunni Islamist factions to take over territory near the Houthi homeland along the Saudi border.